Career Talk Blog | All 50 States Have Taken Action to Streamline Military Spouse Licensing

At the beginning of July, our community received great news for military spouses — New York became the final state to join in the fight against the barriers military spouses and veterans face everyday. Now, all 50 states will recognize professional licensing for military spouses who recently moved.

Military spouses will no longer have to apply for new credentials when their family has a PCS move to a new state.

Five years ago, Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden partnered to create Joining Forces, and initiative designed to rally Americans around service members, vets, and their families. Facing harsh statistics of military spouse under and unemployment, Joining Forces had a tough road ahead. In 2011, only three states allowed military spouses to transfer their licensing across state lines. Now, with all 50 states are on board, military families will save money, time, and stress.

Nurses, teachers, lawyers, dental hygienists, and many more professions require some type of state credentials.

A fact sheet posted on The White House website states that 35% of military spouses work in a career that requires professional licensing. On average, spouses are seeking new employment every one to three years because of their service member’s orders. It can cost hundreds or thousands of dollars to apply for licensing in a new state. In an industry that requires testing, military spouses can spend hours studying. It takes time to apply, study, take the tests, wait for paperwork to be processed, and receive your new license before you are eligible to apply for new jobs. With a streamlined process, military spouses will have shorter periods of unemployment and will no longer have unnecessary burdens put on their families.

There are a vast majority of resources available to service members, vets, and their families.

You can visit your family services center on base to get a wealth of career training resources. Joining Forces is working hard to make all Americans have a better understanding of the military community and the challenges they face.

Military spouses who are seeking career training should utilize the MyCAA grant.

The Major Group offers MyCAA approved certification programs, and for eligible spouses, it’s no cost to you! MyCAA allows spouses to use $4,000 towards an approved license, certification, or associate’s program. You can be certified in a new career in as little as three to six months, working at your own pace no matter where you are! Michelle Obama said, “we know that there are still plenty of gaps and challenges that we need to work on, so as far as I’m concerned, our work here definitely isn’t finished.” Although big steps have been taken, there is still a lot of change ahead. Military spouses want to work and have the knowledge, skills, and education to do so. The Major Group works every day to help military spouses achieve their career goals, and we can’t wait to see what progress will be made in the future.   Fact Sheet: First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden Announce that All 50 States have Taken Action on Military Spouse Licensing. The White House. USA.gov, 1 July 2016. Web. 28 July 2016.